YouTube adds parental controls

YouTube has announced today that they will be adding parental controls, letting parents filter certain videos and block their kids from watching them.

Some of the videos that can now be flagged inappropriate and filtered are those that show off violence or sexual content.

Scott Rubin, head of child safety policy for YouTube says the filtering will remain a challenge: "With 20 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube, we really count on our community members … to know our community guidelines, those rules of the road, to flag videos they think violate the rules."

The new parental controls are dubbed "Safety Mode," and it will limit videos flagged as containing nudity, narcotics, graphic violence and news containing violence. All comments are collapsed on open, and if the kids choose to view them, all comments with profanity are filtered. Safety Mode remains locked at all times, even if the user is logged out.

Safety Mode is browser-specific and must be turned on for all browsers that are used on the computer. The controls are also account-specific, and must be turned on for those accounts.

4 user comments

Wait did I read this right ACCOUNT SPECIFIC? On the youtube blog it had nothing to do with being Account Specific,, so you mean to tell me Youtube is trying to force even Adult users to turn this so called Safety Mode?

Originally posted by LissenUp:Besides, "parental controls" to me are the parents controlling what their kids are watching, surfing and playing with.

No way my kids would use the internet unless I was in the same room with them. Come 15 or 16 though........that's different. They'll do what they want one way or another.

Working in IT in a high school I think parents need to know and in some cases "control" what their kids are doing on the internet. I have become a fan of the Windows Live utility "Family Safety" and have recommended it and installed it for a few families with kids young through teenage years. The kids may not like it but I think many parents are naive to what their kids are really doing on the internet. I am not implying you are one of those parents but you may actually be surprised. I have nearly 10,000 students that daily try to do some very bad things on internet they know is logged and controlled, I can only imagine what they do without that control.

Originally posted by LissenUp:Besides, "parental controls" to me are the parents controlling what their kids are watching, surfing and playing with.

No way my kids would use the internet unless I was in the same room with them. Come 15 or 16 though........that's different. They'll do what they want one way or another.

Working in IT in a high school I think parents need to know and in some cases "control" what their kids are doing on the internet. I have become a fan of the Windows Live utility "Family Safety" and have recommended it and installed it for a few families with kids young through teenage years. The kids may not like it but I think many parents are naive to what their kids are really doing on the internet. I am not implying you are one of those parents but you may actually be surprised. I have nearly 10,000 students that daily try to do some very bad things on internet they know is logged and controlled, I can only imagine what they do without that control.

It's good to hear from someone in OUR field but in a school environment. I don't have kids, don't want but I'm firm, fair, and vigilant and would be so with my kids (if I had any) regarding internet. I agree with you..........as I did some contract work for a school and they are mischievious and nasty little buggers.